Josep Planells Schiaffino is a composer and conductor who has collaborated with numerous ensembles and orchestras, including the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Basel Sinfonietta, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Orquesta Nacional de España, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Orquestra de València, Orquestra Simfònica de Les Illes Balears, Bayerisches Landesjugendorchester, Sächsische Bläserphilharmonie, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Mosaik, Zafraan Ensemble, Remix Ensemble, Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, and the Kritisches Orchester. His works and performances have been featured at major venues and festivals such as the Theater Basel, Kölner Philharmonie, Fondation Royaumont, Lucerne Festival, Slovenian Philharmonic, Rudolf-Oetker-Halle, Bockenheimer Depot, Frankfurt LAB, Teatre Principal de Palma, Auditorio Nacional de España, Palau de la Música de València, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Casa da Música Porto, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Fundación Juan March, Palau de Les Arts, and the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik.

His music has received numerous awards, including the Roche Young Commission from the Lucerne Festival, New Scenes IV from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the DAAD Prize, 1st Prize “Vorhof der Völker” in Berlin, 3rd Prize in the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb, and 1st Prize in the INJUVE Competition. He has received commissions from institutions such as INTERAKTION Conducting Workshop, Zafraan Ensemble, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Orquesta Nacional de España, INAEM, Sigma Project, VibrArt, Trio Musicalis, CNDM, and the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, where he was composer-in-residence as part of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes program.

As a conductor, Planells Schiaffino has worked extensively in opera, assisting Franck Ollu in productions of Rihm’s Jakob Lenz at the Staatsoper Berlin (Dir. Andrea Breth), Dusapin’s Medea at the Salzburg Festspiele, Macbeth Underworld at the Opéra Comique Paris (Dir. Thomas Jolly), and Xenakis’ Oresteia at the Theater Basel (Dir. Calixto Bieito), where he made his operatic debut in April 2017, conducting two performances. He studied conducting with Fred Buttkewitz in Berlin and participated in masterclasses with Peter Rundel in Porto and Peter Eötvös in Budapest and Munich. In 2015, he won 1st Prize for Interpretation at the Hanns Eisler Competition, and in 2019, he worked with Matthias Pintscher and Heinz Holliger as part of the Lucerne Festival Conducting Fellowship.

In recent years, he has collaborated regularly with Ensemble Modern, participating in projects such as Story Water (Emanuel Gat Dance) and Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company meets Ensemble Modern (Jacopo Godani). In 2020, he made his Spanish opera debut conducting Die Zauberflöte at the Teatre Principal in Palma de Mallorca (co-produced with Opera Zuid Maastricht). Since 2022, he has worked regularly at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, making his debut in its Foyer Series during the 2021-22 season with the premiere of Entre los árboles by José Río Pareja. In 2023, he assisted Josep Pons in the award-winning production of Parsifal (Dir. Claus Guth), and in 2024 he collaborated with Pierre Bleuse on the premiere of Orgia by Hèctor Parra (Dir. Calixto Bieito). That same season, he made his conducting debut at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin.

Born in Valencia in 1988, Planells Schiaffino earned his Clarinet Diploma from the Conservatori Superior de Música “Joaquín Rodrigo” and completed his Composition Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees under Arnulf Hermann and Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. He also studied with Salvatore Sciarrino, Brian Ferneyhough, and Wolfgang Rihm and received scholarships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Förderverein of the HfM “Hanns Eisler”, La Caixa/DAAD, the State of Berlin’s “Elsa-Neumann-Scholarship”, and the Peter Eötvös Foundation. He completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge, supervised by Richard Causton and funded by an Honorary Vice-Chancellor’s Award from the Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust and a Pigott Doctoral Studentship.

During the 2021-22 academic year, he was Guest Professor of Composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), and since 2023, he has conducted various projects at the Conservatori del Liceu. He has also given lectures at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and the University of Cambridge.